The Commitment of Courtship

We thought we’d share our view of courtship with y’all because that’s what our blog is about, encouraging others in courtship, whether you’re in a courtship or not. There are a lot of definitions of courtship out there and we felt it might be helpful to others to give our definition. Hopefully it makes sense and feel free to ask us if you have any questions. :)

The foundation of our view of courtship is the word commitment. To commit means to “pledge or engage oneself” (Dictionary.com).

Luke: I feel very strongly that the guy should know for sure he would marry the girl (with her and the father’s consent) before he tells her he’s interested. When he expresses interest in her, he should explain how committed he is. This serves to protect the girl and gives her security in the relationship. In a courtship, the guy takes the risk.

Jordan: I believe the girl should save her heart for the one she will marry, by not being romantically involved until there is a secure commitment on the guy’s part. Friendship with a guy is fine, but you need to guard your heart and try not to read too much into things he says or his actions. It is highly important to become true friends with a guy because friendship is how you get to know a person and evaluate character.

To us, courtship is being paired off as a couple with the intent of marriage. We were probably technically courting since around January, but we both wanted to meet first before we made it official. This didn’t mean that either of us would change our minds; we were both committed. We’ve spent a lot of time discussing what we believe about every issue we could think of, from doctrine to child raising, and now the focus is figuring out all the technical details such as budgets and how our household would be managed so that we can get married.

To sum it all up, we believe that courtship ultimately leads to marriage and involves that deep of a commitment from the start. It provides security for both sides and serves to protect their hearts for one another. It’s really incredible to be able to one day marry your first love.